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8.04.2014

Oh, Hello Stranger

Well, where have YOU been? :)

Yes, it's true, it's been OVER SIX WEEKS since my last blog post. That's crazy. And by far the longest break I've ever taken. Even longer than the declared break I took at the end of last year. This time, I sorta just disappeared from the blogging world without a trace. If you follow us on Facebook, you'd know that I didn't fall into the Pacific (thanks Rosedel :) that gave me a good chuckle) because I have posted photos and status updates every once in a while. But, in all honestly, work on our house has nearly vanished.

When Chris left his day job to pursue our handyman and design business, we hoped to be busy and that business would continue to develop. And lucky for us, it really did. Chris used to work 7 days a week pretty consistently before he left his job to manage the demand, and now that he is working for our business full-time he's still working 6 days a week, and very frequently 7. It's awesome to know that we made the right decision and that Chris is staying so busy and we're developing a great client base and getting so much work. It's wonderful to get checks mailed to you and see your business grow. And it's wonderful to see Chris be so successful at this.

Then there's the bunch of jobs I have. I work for our business too, but I also still work for my brother's real estate company and for the A's. Oh, and there's Zoe who I am the primary caregiver of about 60% of the time during the week.

I'm not trying to make excuses or anything, I just wanted to give you the honest reason of why I have had ZERO posts lately --> there just flat out has been no time. Even if I wanted to write a post regarding our house, the only thing we've done in the last 6 weeks is hang the light in the nook - and that was only about 10 days ago.

But exciting things have happened (and are hopefully in the pipeline) that I would love to clue you in on, I just didn't know if you would be interested. I have found that when I write renovation or design related posts that are actually not related to our house (a bathroom for my mom and CBH, or a fireplace for my dad and Wendy for example) that there are not nearly as many visitors to this here ol' blog, and so I haven't wanted to write about projects we're working on because I thought no one would be interested. What I need to remember however, is that I started this blog for myself and what renovation work was going on for us. And later, what our family became. I need to not care how many readers I get, because that's never been what it was really about for me. It was about sharing with a computer screen and however many family members I thought were reading along. The fact that other "strangers" started reading as well and I sorta kinda became friends with some of them was just an awesome added bonus.

Somewhere along the way I did start caring about how many comments I got, or how many blog views there were. I got sad when readership would dip or people seemed uninterested. I need to get back to not caring. That's not to say that I don't care that you read my blog - because I amazingly DO - but I need to remember that I started this for myself, and so if I want to write about a home inspection we did on Saturday at a house my dad and Wendy are hopefully going to be buying in Oakland, I should not care if only 7 people read it because that's what I want to write about and that's what's actually going on in our lives. I have always prided myself on being honest, and to be completely honest - I love writing about renovation and construction and design and my family, and sometimes that work is not going to be on our house because 1) we're nearly done with it and 2) we're just so fucking busy.

So, my fair readers, I have a couple things to say in summary:

1) I will come back, I will post - I love and miss blogging and I need to get back into it

2) Those posts will not be nearly as consistent as they used to be. Shit, I used to post FIVE TIMES A WEEK. Then it dropped to four, then to three, and now, who knows? Some weeks I may be too busy or maybe I have nothing to talk about, but they will be there. Maybe some weeks three, maybe some weeks none.

3) Posts will not always be about our house. One of the amazing things about the offer my dad and Wendy are putting in, is that it's for a house that needs a fair amount of cosmetic fixing - which means we get to have fun! I used to refrain from these posts because they weren't about "us," but now, hey, this is what our life is --> we are working folks who are working on work. I will not care if people don't like reading about installing bracing on a cracked foundation that isn't our house. Chris may discover some great new tool that he loves and that is super helpful on some random job that he's worked on. While I used to not write those posts as much, frankly, that is the work we're doing and the work we are interested in, so that's what I'm going to write about.

There you have it folks. I have returned, to hopefully somewhat normalcy :) And while I hope you continue to stay tuned and read along wherever this journey takes us, I also understand if my interests and blogging frequency are not what you are interested in, that's fine too - I bid you a friendly good-bye and have fun. We all gotta do what's best for us.

Woo! A post!Now, I've always felt we are similar in personality if not skill and marveled at the coincidental timing of our daughters' births as well as our marriages. I love this blog and how your voice translates. So, whether you're updating us on the house, Zoe, a house for someone in your family, or even work projects, I'm still loyal and still interested. Don't stop being you and don't let worrying about the blog get in the way of your life.

Checked every day for your posts, and when there wasn't a new one, I thought 'good for you!!' Seriously, this is entertainment and relaxation for me (and I am guessing others) and if you are so busy not to post, well then, that's ok, because that means you are just like the 50,345,823,856 of the rest of us that don't have blogs to begin with!Blogs should be for you, by you and about you. Period. Everyone who thinks you owe them, or makes you think you owe them a post, can get bent. So glad you're back - love your posts!A

Glad I made you chuckle. Seriously I was really really hoping you WOULD post about the other renovation projects you have. You showed us pictures of one for your brother, I think, in San Francisco. It looked like such a cool place although it was a half torn up wreck. I didn't mention it because you were already so busy and stressed but I love hearing about how things are done and why. Your writing is delightful and I check every day to see what you are up to. So keep writing whenever you can. And Zoe pictures are always a plus!

More and more I'm beginning to follow blogs that are written by women (well, mostly women) who are leading real lives and have the honesty for their blog to reflect that, including when they are too busy to post! The kind of readers you want to have will stick with you and understand. Good to see an update, and pictures of your little one!

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Hi! We're Chris and Meryl and we're renovating our Storybook home in Oakland, CA. Chris is the handy, knowledgeable builder, I'm his slightly inappropriate assistant, and our 1 year old Zoe is along for the entertaining ride. Spurred by our love of renovating our own home we started a handyman, design and organizing business and now that we're both self employed we're busier than ever, but we love it!